Olive Tilford Dargan

“ The good people who forget what is out of sight, as if misery—or duty—were a question of eyes and ears, they are the most to blame. [Rises] If they would all help—just all of the good. [Goes to door, rear, and stands a moment looking out] The princess dances at the ball to-night.
Adr. My boy!
Vasil. [Coming back to Adrian] But they will not all help—not yet. Perhaps the world of peace must come before the world of love, not out of it ... as war has come before peace. The law of Moses was once the best law. His race saved itself by it. Has the day of its necessity passed, Adrian? Are we sure? ”

“ Gregorief——
Greg. Wait! They are all ready now. The peasantry, inspired by the teaching of our martyrs for the last thirty years,—the nobility with awakened conscience,—the workmen, one great body with suspended arms,—the army of the Czar ready to become the army of the people,—all await their leader—you! [A pause] Russia is looking but one way—to freedom. To-day you may lead us to victory almost without blood. Let Petrizoff commit this crime in the name of liberty, and to-morrow we shall be like the scattered limbs of a dissevered body. You will not let this be, Lavrov. ”

“ Dion. I had forgot Heraclides. [Going] Ocrastes, come. We'll not so soon be parted. You to my wife, Theano. [Exeunt Dion and Ocrastes, rear; Theano through curtains, left]
Aris. [Alone] Dion, how oft hast sworn I was thy dearest,
Yet go to happiness while I droop here
As to my grave. Nor dost thou need me more
Than quickest life its century-buried dead.
Yet one is yon, behind those curtains close,
Who starves even as you feed. Her love is mine. ”

“ Away, boys, away!
[Enter Hubert and Roland]
Hub. What cheer, my men? A fair morning for brave hearts. Can you keep this castle for me till I've had a bout at sea?
A soldier. That we can, sir!
Ste. I'll go with you, sir, by your leave. The castle will wait for us, I give you my word, sir.
Hub. You have seen the bottom of your glass too often to-night, Stephen.
Ste. God bless you, sir, there's where a soldier keeps his oath to serve God and his country, and he can't look it over too often. Take me wi' you, sir, and I'll prove you who lifts his glass the highest will wave his sword the longest. ”

“ In barin and peasant, mechanic and noble, Christian and Jew, Finn, Pole, Czech, Serb, Georgian, Tatar, must be born as in one man the conscious strength of peace. And to its deliverance I give my life, my soul! [Sits down. Sophie leans over him] ... Yes ... he shall be free.
Greg. [Who has been searching Vasil's violin, comes forward with a paper in his hand] They shall all be free! [203] We will make no terms, we will accept no constitution, till every dungeon door be open, till we hold in our arms the brothers who have made freedom no longer a dream of the night but a song of the morning! ”

“ Who leaps for stars
Must fall a million leagues too short, or else
[312]
Must fall a million leagues too short, or else
Take vantage not of earth. [Goes to curtains]
Farewell—till death.
Aris. 'Twill not be long to wait. Thou canst not live
In Dion's arms.
Ara. Nor thine. As well to hope
The air-winged seed will root in vacancy,
And high mid-nothing hang with lob�d bloom,
As that the rose of love will flower from
The wreck of men and gods.
[He kneels and kisses her robe. She goes out]
Aris. Before I die
I've touched divinity.
[As he rises a slave rushes in, rear, and kneels]
Slave. ”

“ Adrian Lavrov, this is your call to war. If you respond, his life is well lost.
Adr. War? [Staggers up] Yes. And I will use the strongest of earthly weapons, the arms of peace. The powers that upbuild are as invincible as the universe. By them it stands. Only by their toleration do the forces of destruction live. Toleration? Only by the support of the powers of peace do the powers that destroy exist. Is not the army of the Czar fed by us, clothed by us, paid by us? And if we refuse to give, must it not beg of us? If he who works not shall not eat, what is the doom of the destroyer? ”

“ Vera. Let me have it, Vasil.
Vasil. [Tears sheet from tablet, folds it and puts it into his pocket] No. It's as safe as any piece of paper.
Vera. Adrian won't like it. He says your mind must be free from—all that. Free for what, Vasil? We want to be free only to do things.
Vasil. [Laying his hand on his book] For this,—and this [softly touching his violin] ,—and this. [Lifting his pen]
Vera. O, what a slave! You will have three masters. I want to be free too, but not for such things. I want to make Sasha happy.
Vasil. A woman's freedom. Free to wear fetters. ”

“ Till I return with Dion.
Ara. Return? No, no, my lord! O, come no more
To this cursed land. Be happy in thy Athens.
And Plenty bless thee as thou wert her child,
Swelling thy measure till prosperity
Hang on thy look like fruit invisible
Dropping to whom thou wilt.
Aris. And you—and you—
My heart is dumb. What gods wish for themselves
Become a human fortune and befall thee!
[Exeunt. Guards approach and beat door. Re-enter Aratea]
Ara. ”

“ For torture does not give men the serenity of gods or preachers, Lavrov. Twenty years of the silence that welcomes the silence of death—twenty years of the loneliness that makes men pray for the joy of weeping together—twenty years with starving eyes on naked walls, while above me the great, wide seasons were going by—twenty years of void and gloom with the windy waters whipping my prison island, and all the more maddening because I could not hear them, because they too were a silent guard. ”

“ You love me, Aratea.
Ara. Fare you well.
Aris. [Against the curtains] First say thou lovest me!
Dost thou not hear
A voice at night when calm Eirene leads
Sleep to all eyes but thine?
Ara. Have mercy, sir!
Aris. What leap of soul or dream of sense hast thou
That is not sweeter for you hold me dear?
When Theia's daughter, priestess gray, unhoods
Her morning face, and all her clouds of rose
With flying petals light the waking world,
Does not your ecstasy swim on the flood
Of my remembered eyes, and their delight
Re-jewel beauty's diadem?
Ara. I beg——
Aris. ”

“ Rise, Korelenko. Heal ye first yourselves. Out of your differences, your divisions, you make your master. If for one day enmity should sleep, if for one day every lover of freedom should love his neighbor, in that day the oppressor would fall. Rise! I will not do it.
Kore. [Springing up] You will!
Adr. Will?
Kore. Yes. The princess Sophie Travinski is betrayed to Petrizoff. ”

“ Follow him now, and farewell, good fellows—farewell, all!
[Soldiers start out slowly, following Roland]
An old soldier. [Turning] But you'll come again, sir?
Another. Ay, we'll see you back?
Another. An you come or come not, I kiss my sword to you, Hubert de Burgh, the bravest knight in all England!
Hub. Why, my hearts, would you start the liquor in my eyes? I go where there's brine enough. Twelve hours' sail with fortune will bring me back—but if I come not, remember your king!
[Exeunt soldiers]
They know 'tis death—they know 'tis death. ”

“ He has killed every man that died in Yaltowa to-night—he has slaughtered every child—he has outraged every woman! What else? Freedom offered him her hand and he struck her to earth! He has scattered her forces—he has strengthened her oppressor—and the rivers of blood that must now drench Russia shall flow from his door! But—ha! ha! he has saved his soul!
[Enter Irtenieff, attended]
Irtenieff. I want the prisoner, Adrian Lavrov. [No one answers. He sees Adrian and crosses to him] What is your crime? ”

“ Vasil. Mine? It is the same, only I call it love instead of soul. The great love—that makes one heart beat in another's body—that makes me faint in Russia when a beggar starves in India—that fades your cheek with the girl's at an English loom—that turns the comfortable American out of doors with the driven Jew—that gives one color to every flag, and makes the might of the strongest nation the right of the Kaffir babe. This is my star, as Adrian's, only I see it warm and golden instead of cold and white. ”

“ To star the globe of life.
[244]
Oc. [Rising] Which is to say,
As simple people speak in Sicily,
A man must wed!
Ara. Ocrastes, talk not so!
Like stars that may not range below the zenith,
His meaning keeps the orbit of high thought,
And will not dwell in gross and simple words.
Oc. Ho, mistress Dion, you too would like to spin
Your cobwebs round the moon! [To Aristocles] Get you to Athens,
While you may say to Dion she is true!
[Aristocles tries to speak]
O, ay, I know what you would say, my lord. ”

“ Adr. Then you are wiser than I. But what is your wish, your highness? You say you have not come for yourself.
Soph. No. For Vera Vetrova. She is in danger.
Adr. Vera? How can such a child be in danger?
Soph. You ask that in Russia?
Adr. She lives at home—she goes nowhere.
Soph. Where was she yesterday?
Adr. I was away all day.
Soph. And Vera was in Yaltowa, at the bazaar to raise funds for the wounded.
Adr. I remember now. Madam Korego asked permission to take her.
Soph. She is not a wise woman.
Adr. What has happened?
Soph. Petrizoff saw her. You know the man he is. ”

“ Gather an army and go forth with guns, and you may be laid in the dust. But the gathered forces of peace are as the fingers on God's hand, one with His strength, one with His will. Friends, friends, we have been searching earth for the weapon already in our grasp. The woman at the loom, the mujik in the field, the workman on the housetop, the man at the wire, the throttle, the wheel, hold it in their hands. ”

“ You think of nothing but Petrizoff! What of the people now dying in Yaltowa? Dying because he lives? Go see the horrors there! The reactionists are everywhere in the streets, disguised as revolutionists, looting and murdering! Your Karitz peasants are being turned into beasts——
[Adrian gives a deep groan and sits overcome, by table front, left]
Kore. It is not too late! Our friends—Russia—freedom—yet may live if you will help us! Your name will justify Petrizoff's death to the world. ”

“ Your song can be saved only with your life, Vasil, and this meeting is dangerous. In a few days you are [164] going away. We will not uselessly waste your heart to-night.
Vasil. I do not want to go just now, Adrian. Let me stay here a little longer. There is so much you can teach me yet.
Adr. [Smiling] You make better music than I can dream. No, it is time to go.
Vasil. But I want to stay!
Adr. [Quickly] You must have no wishes. [More gently] Aside from your art.
Vasil. Art can breathe only through life. I must live! Art is for men and women. ”

“ Vasil. Pardon me. [Folds paper and puts it into his pocket]
Orl. I insist upon hearing it.
Vasil. [Taking paper out reluctantly] 'Tis merely a song, sir, and will hardly bear reading. I will sing it for you. [Unfolds paper slowly] A Welcome to Summer, friends. 'Tis an old chorus, and you can help me with it. [Sings]
Come out, come out with me
To meet the summer maid!
A queen, a queen is she,
Whose love is as the sea
That would all lands caress,
Whose loves are many as the sands,
And each a sovereign is,
For whom her arms enring
Is royal by her kiss,
Forevermore a king, a king, a king! ”

“ Glaia? Ay!
[Goes to curtains rear, parts them softly, looks within and returns]
She did not call. I'll watch all night. 'Twill be
No added task since there's no sleep for me.
My Margaret is safe. They dare not touch
A princess of the blood. But I am down.
'Tis said and sung there is no greater pain
Than wrenches Fortune's nurslings when she flies.
Not so. False lady of the wheel, take all!
But O, to see my king yield to the wolves
Now fang-close to his heart—there is my death! ”

“ If he gives us schools and exiles the teachers? If he gives us freedom and denies it to the men who have won it—our brothers in the dungeons? No, we want our constitution, not the Czar's—a constitution with law and justice behind it, not an army. ”

“ Bren. 'Tis a song of you and will go fast enough, I warrant.
Meth. [Scornfully] Of me?
Bren. Nay, of your jewels!
Meth. An you mock me, I'll——
Bren. [Touching his lips] Your rubies [pointing to his eyes] , your diamonds [grinning to show teeth] , your pearls.
Tich. You may sing that song when diamonds wink tears, rubies pucker for kisses, and pearls bite figs i' the morning.
Bren. Well, I've a better one. [Sings]
Her voice is like the birds that wive
When blossoms swing in April trees,
And from her bosom's honey hive
Sighs come and go like bees.
Her smile——
Meth. ”

“ Then you shook your sword, I warrant!
Bren. No, bless me, I shook my feet.
Tich. Man, you didn't run?
Bren. No, I flew. I wore Mercury's feathers, I tell you.
Tich. Shame, Brentio! A coward's leg will never overtake Fame.
Bren. Ay, but when a man must leap the grave to catch her, let take her who will! I'm done. Have you been through the castle?
Tich. No.
Bren. Come then. There are sights to be seen. Mostly in the cellars, where every soldier gets a bottle for his song. ”

“ Vet. I begged the cup of Vasil. Let me die when I can not serve Adrian Lavrov.
Adr. [Advancing to him and taking the cup] Thank you, Petrovich. I would rather serve you. [Drinks]
Vet. Are we safe, Adrian Lavrov? Is Lonz at peace?
Adr. Yes, Petrovich. I have Prince Travinski's word that we shall not be molested so long as we are patient under the law.
Kore. The law? Under robbery and the rod! Patience under the foot of your master!
Adr. The slave can always rise above the master by forgiving him. ”